Lux Helsinki to feature light installations also during the morning

Light festival wins Helsinki Travel Award and will light up the city again from 6–10 January 2018.

The Helsinki Tourism Foundation announced yesterday that Lux Helsinki has won the Helsinki Travel Award, which is presented annually in October to distinguished parties or events that have had a positive impact on the tourism industry, its reputation or customer satisfaction. The Helsinki Tourism Foundation praised the light festival for its innovative artistic implementation: “As an annual light festival that takes place among the streets, market squares and buildings of the city each January, Lux Helsinki brightens up the city during the darkest days of the year and livens up the winter in breathtaking fashion through its innovative artistic implementation that attracts over half a million visits.” - writes hel.fi.

“The Helsinki Travel Award is important recognition for Lux Helsinki, which began ten years ago. Each year we strive to make Lux Helsinki an even better festival for both locals and visitors. We have received a lot of requests to extend the festival, so we will use the prize money to present some of the light installations for the first time during one of the mornings for everyone to enjoy,” saysSaila Machere, head of the City Marketing Unit at the City of Helsinki.

Lux Helsinki brings to life the city space through impressive light installations

The relationship between the built environment and light has always been at the heart of the festival, and in January 2018 this will be crystallised in the installation Time’s Role byJanne Ahola. The installation is inspired by the over 100-year history of the building that now houses the Museum of Finnish Architecture and its changing roles over the years. The music and sound design for the installation have been created byAki Päivärinne.

Ahola uses projection mapping technology for his installation, which is particularly suitable for his architectural theme. Projecting mapping involves the interplay of light and architecture; it is a visual presentation method that creates a unique identity for the object onto which the video is projected. Time’s Role, which describes the journey of the creative spark, aims in this way to break down the physical boundaries of perspective.

The 10th annual Lux Helsinki light festival takes place from 6 to 10 January 2018. The tradition of light festivals and their related expertise are indeed thriving in Helsinki. The popularity of the event has grown significantly in recent years. As a form of expression, light addresses everyone and is timeless: it is a strong, primal force that is at home also in today’s state-of-the-art technologies and startup culture.

”Lux Helsin ki has established its place as one of the most highly anticipated winter traditions among locals, bringing people of all ages together to enjoy art in any weather. It is a surprising, exciting and effective festival that fits the size and appearance of Helsinki. In the future we aim to further enhance the festival through cooperation with top artists from Finland and abroad”, Machere says.

The Lux Helsinki light festival is organised by the City of Helsinki. The artistic directors of the festival are Ilkka Paloniemiand Matti Jykylä.

The coach of a sports club in Hyvinkää, southern Finland has been remanded into police custody on suspicion of sexual abuse of minors he was coaching, the Itä-Uusimaa police department said on Thursday. Officials said that they are investigating the case as suspected child abuse but did not disclose the ages of the alleged victims. The suspect in the case, a 50-year-old man, was remanded into custody on Wednesday. The suspected sexual abuse is believed to...

Finns increasingly forego do-it-yourself construction of prefab elements in favour of completely completed homes. Turnkey homes (where homes are fully finished and owners can immediately occupy them) have become more popular than traditional house packages, says the Finnish Association for Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses. “About 7,500 detached homes are built in Finland every year, and about 70 percent of them are prefabricated houses of some kind,”...

THE FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE in the Helsinki neighbourhood of Arabianranta was visibly subdued on Tuesday, as residents mourned the death of a local child who is believed to have been murdered. While little information has been released to the public, it is known that the victim was murdered near their home on the night of Christmas Eve (December 24). The police apprehended a suspect at the scene of the crime, who has been confirmed as a 36-year old male. Whethe...

One of Finland’s most famous seafaring vessels, the titanic icebreaker Otso, was deployed on its first mission of the winter season last night, keeping sea routes open for the 22nd year in a row. Late in the evening of Christmas Day, Otso, the crowning glory of Arctia Oy’s extensive fleet, departed from Helsinki’s Katajanokka Harbour, heading north to the Bay of Bothnia. The 7000-ton Polar icebreaker has been tasked with keeping waterways open between Oulu...

Eight Finnish political parties have published their a statement on future climate policy goals in Finland. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre) in November invited all nine parliamentary parties to join a task force established to find an agreement on new, more ambitious climate goals for Finland. The one-month project was led by Kimmo Tiilikainen (Centre), the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing. The Finns Party abandoned the task force last w...

A 25-year-old man suspected of the sexual abuse of a girl under the age of 15 in Oulu, northwestern Finland, who was arrested in Germany last Tuesday is now reported to be at large. According to law enforcement officials in Oulu, the suspect was released by German police before he could be transferred to Finnish custody due to "a breakdown in communication between authorities". Oulu District Court ordered the suspect to be reprimanded into custody in absen...

Finland’s high earners saw their real income grow more in 2017 than their peers in middle and low income groups, according to new data released by Statistics Finland on Tuesday. Incomes among the country’s highest income decile rose by 4.4 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, while the year-on-year increase was 1.3 percent for middle income earners. Incomes for the four lowest income deciles meanwhile grew by 1.2 percent over the one-year period. However amon...

A man wanted in connection with a suspected arson attempt on a home in Helsinki’s Käpylä district was remanded into police custody on Sunday. The Helsinki district court has remanded a man suspected of attempted arson and attempted murder into police custody, ending a short-lived manhunt, police said on Sunday. The 25 year-old is suspected of using a Molotov cocktail to cause a fire at a flat in Käpylä, Helsinki last Monday. The apartment was completely de...

Helsinki Central Library Oodi will opened its doors to the public on 5 December at 8am, a day before Finland’s 101st birthday. Designed by ALA Architects, this library of a new era is an ode to Finnish culture, equality and freedom of expression. Oodi offers everyone an open, public urban space at Kansalaistori Square, right opposite Parliament House. Central Library Oodi is an active and functional meeting point with 2.5 million expected annual visitors....